Public roads primarily facilitate traffic. Parking is offered as a secondary benefit incident to vehicle throughway. Local governments typically regulate parking on public roads, whether at curbside, in municipal lots, or on other public property, through a regulatory scheme that promotes public safety and provides revenue generation. The impact of regulated control over on-street parking affects all motorists, as well as urban residents, local businesses, commercial drivers, and other parties that use or rely upon on-street parking. Drivers who need to park their vehicle are directly impacted by regulated parking control. For example, looking for a parking space wastes time and fuel, contributes to traffic congestion, creates frustration and stress, and increases pollution, while disregarding parking regulations can result in parking tickets, fines, or towing. Despite these downsides, parking regulation remains a practical necessity.
Commonly, public parking is controlled through parking regulations and prohibitions that permit parking on a first-come, first-served basis, with few exceptions, such as allowed by special permit. However, allowing users to locate on-street parking on a first-come, first-served basis can create congestion on the streets as drivers slow down to look for available parking, wait for parked cars to leave a parking spot, and stop to read parking restrictions posted on signs associated with some on-street parking spots. Further congestion is experienced as parking garages or parking lots become full and drivers are forced to look for empty on-street spaces or wait for an empty space in the lot or garage. Additionally, users can become frustrated looking for an available parking space and may be discouraged from visiting areas in which parking is difficult to locate.
Providing reservation systems that allow users to place a reservation for a parking space and identifying available spaces can help alleviate many of the problems and frustrations associated with parking. For instance, SFPark collects and distributes information to drivers detailing available parking. Wireless sensors detect when parking availability in real-time. Based on the detected availability, parking prices are adjusted to reduce parking demand in areas with a high volume of occupied spaces and increase demand in areas where parking is readily available. However, there is no guarantee that a parking space will still be available by the time a driver reaches the space. For example, another driver may see the space and decide to park before the driver to whom the space was identified can park. Additionally, parking spaces that are more preferable to the user can become available while the driver is en route to the identified parking space; however, the driver may be unaware of the availability if he fails to conduct a further search for available spaces.
Therefore, there is a need for more efficiently directing users to the identified available parking spots, allowing reservation, and ensuring that the spaces are available to reduce congestion on the streets and to improve the experience of drivers wishing to park.